Racing: Allan Sharrock salutes his Bella of Stakes ball

Darci La Bella defeated Coventina Bay. Photo / Race Images

Pocket rocket Darci La Bella proved too strong in the closing stages yesterday when winning the Group 2 Manawatū Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Trentham.

The Allan Sharrock-trained mare made it four wins in a row, three of them at stakes level, as she downed Group 1 winner Coventina Bay in a driving finish.

Jockey Jonathan Riddell had a few anxious moments as he tried to find clear room at the top of the straight, but once Darci La Bella had shouldered her way clear, instant acceleration quickly took her to the front before holding out the charge of Coventina Bay and Oseleta to claim the victory.

Riddell was quick to make mention of the mare’s diminutive stature when explaining how the race had played out.

“She travelled quite keen the whole way,” he said.

“She got stuck in a pocket and I had to use all 14 hands of her to push out, but she scoots away and just did it all by herself.

“She is a genuine racehorse and I wish they were all like that.”

Sharrock was delighted to see his charge round out a long season with such a performance as he looks to further glory with her in her next campaign.

“She has just capped off a wonderful season, as she has raced through the winter and on to here, and has never put a foot wrong,” he said.

“I was going to put her away after she won the Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes [Group 3, 1400m] at Hawera, but we kept her going to Pukekohe [Group 2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes, 1400m] where she gave them a hiding, and now she has come out and done this.”

Darci La Bella will now head to the spelling paddock with a shot at the highest level looming for her in the spring

“She can go in the paddock now, but I think she could be a Group 1 winner in the spring next year with some more maturity,” Sharrock said.

“She has so much natural ability and can run on all types of tracks, so a race like the Tarzino Trophy [Group1, 1400m] at Hastings is a race I would like to target for her.”

● In the Group 3 Manawatū Cup (2300m), Sagunto landed his biggest victory with an all-the-way win.

Rated to perfection by Lisa Allpress, the seven-year-old never looked like flinching in the run home after setting up a solid speed.

Allpress kept the pressure on as she had Sagunto pinging along at the head of affairs and at the 1000m had five lengths on the chasing pack.

Angled to the centre of the track turning for home, Sagunto kept finding as the challengers appeared and kept up a strong gallop to defeat Subtle Point, Soprano Supreme and Platinum Invador, who finished in a line behind him, with just a long head separating the trio.

- NZ Racing Desk